


Burning the Midnight Oil

by miss_slothrop



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Accidental Boner, Cindy really has no idea, F/M, Masturbation, Unrequited Crush, friendly gesture gone horribly wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 19:05:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16069388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_slothrop/pseuds/miss_slothrop
Summary: Some years after the coming of the Darkness, Prompto passes the time waiting for the king’s return by helping Cindy run her garage.  The work is fulfilling and he’s built a rapport with her, but even now he still can’t bring himself to confess his love to Cindy and she is clearly completely oblivious to it.  So oblivious, in fact, that as an entirely platonic gesture she offers to help Prompto relax after hours of work by giving him a back massage.  What’s a man to do when he has to fight his own amorous feelings, especially when they make themselves known so…enormously?





	Burning the Midnight Oil

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if this also counts as humor or not. I'd feel weird sticking it in that tag, though.

In spite of everything that had happened in the last few years, every now and again Prompto found himself thinking that he had a pretty good thing going for him. Without the light of the sun to keep the daemons at bay while his best friend was lost somewhere in the magical depths of the Crystal, his world had almost collapsed around him in every way. Still, in the face of all that, a small number of things had stayed the same and Prompto clung to them like a life raft. One of them was Hammerhead, the full-service station not far outside the ruins of Insomnia, where he could pick up some work when he was in the neighborhood. Lately the job selection offered more daemon hunts than cars to be worked on, so Prompto regarded every opportunity to dirty his hands with grease instead of plasmodium as a rare treat.

This evening – if any time of the 24-hour cycle he still operated on could be called that – he was devoting his full attention to one such treat. A whole convoy of trucks the hunters used was due for a routine inspection. The first two engines Prompto had checked were purring like coerl cubs, but the third was malfunctioning, loudly, in some way he couldn’t yet determine. For some length of time that he hadn’t bothered to keep track of, he had been disassembling and reassembling different systems along one side of the engine in his search for any sign of the problem. So far it hadn’t yielded much information other than some of the moving parts needing grease and as the time dragged on he began to feel his focus slipping. How long had he been bent over this rig? With a sigh that hummed from deep in his chest, Prompto rubbed at his eyes in frustration, not noticing that he’d just spread a line of grease across his temple to the edge of his eyelid.

“Is that darn thing still giving you trouble?” The sound of the voice startled Prompto out of his head and he snapped upright as he turned to face the speaker. It was Cindy, another part of his world who could still bring light into his life. Prompto had gotten far better acquainted with her in the years since the darkness had fallen, but as easily as they could hold regular conversations now, he still couldn’t work up the nerve to tell her outright how he felt about her. Every other hunter who regularly came through Hammerhead could practically smell it on him every time he and Cindy were in the same room, but she herself hadn’t caught on as far as he could tell. Despite all of Prompto’s best efforts, he still found himself getting fluttery and bashful whenever he and Cindy might brush hands or bump into each other from the side when they worked on a car in tandem. He could only be grateful that she hadn’t called him on any of it directly yet.

“Yeah,” Prompto said with a droop of his shoulders, turning back to the open hood of the truck. “It doesn’t make any sense. Wear and tear doesn’t seem to be serious and I’m not seeing anything weird going on in there, but I’m not done yet. Wherever that funny noise is hiding, I can find it.”

“Maybe you oughta take a break,” said Cindy. Prompto heard her shift behind him and he could guess that she was leaning her weight on one leg and crossing her arms. “You’ve been at this a while.”

“Nah,” said Prompto, summoning up a little bravado to push away his growing fatigue. “I can probably hack this in less than an hour.”

“It’s been two since you started working on the convoy,” said Cindy.

“What?!” Prompto jerked his head around toward her and a massive pop erupted from the back of his neck. “Ow-ow-ow-ow!”

Cindy giggled and walked around to the side where he didn’t have to crane to see her. “Don’t go working yourself too hard, now. There ain’t nothing good that can come out of burning yourself out. Your work suffers, the cars suffer and, most of all, _you_ suffer.”

“You sound like Cid,” said Prompto, rubbing his neck and rolling his shoulders with a wince. Cindy stood with her hands on her hips and as cross with him as she clearly was, she was still a beautiful sight to behold like that.

“Well that’s straight outta Paw-paw’s mouth,” said Cindy. “And he was right, too.”

Prompto heaved another sigh, glancing down at the engine again. “You’re probably right. I just don’t want to break my concentration.” He grinned at Cindy. “Can’t throw off my groove now. I’m in the zone!” Cindy laughed out loud at that and the swell of pride that the accomplishment gave Prompto was almost enough to get him to forget about the stiffness and pain in his neck and shoulders. Almost.

“I could give you a hand,” said Cindy, looking down under the hood with him. “It might go quicker if we put our heads together.”

“Uh, sure!” Prompto inwardly flinched at the unseemly squeak in his voice. Thankfully Cindy seemed to pay it no mind as she stepped up to the other half of the engine across from him to get to work. Prompto did his best to return his focus to the engine and for some minutes few words were passed between them save for Prompto’s descriptions of what he’d already learned about the state of the thing and Cindy’s follow-up questions.

“Aha!” Cindy’s exclamation made Prompto jump, another painful pop sounding from somewhere between his shoulder blades. “Pretty sure it’s a piston on this side.”

“That’s it?” asked Prompto with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“Far as I can tell,” Cindy continued. “Cylinder needs replacing. Listen.” She reached into the engine again and slid the detached piston up and down. Even at that slow rate of motion, a terrible screech rang out from inside. “If that ain’t rust in there, I don’t know what is. Sounds like this might be the last piece of original equipment in the whole engine. The old girl’s a patchwork.” She stood up and looked down at the engine with a satisfied gleam in her eyes and it was enough to turn Prompto’s focus entirely on her again. Still bent over the edge of the truck, he leaned his chin on one hand and hummed fondly to himself through his dreamy smile. Cindy’s eyes flicked up toward him in the next second and he instantly felt himself turn red, becoming acutely aware of his body language.

“Uh,” he stammered. “That…was awesome! You’ve gotta tell me how you do that.”

Cindy giggled again. “Practice. I been at this job a while, you know. It ain’t my life’s work for nothing.”

“Uh, right.” Prompto’s face and now his shoulders were only growing hotter.

“Hey,” said Cindy with a shrug as she walked back toward him from around the front fender, “all _you_ need is a bit more practice. Keep taking jobs here and who knows? You’ll get ‘em done so fast you won’t even need my help. Heck, you could end up working quicker than me!”

“Oh no,” said Prompto, waving his hands back and forth. “I wouldn’t count on it.” His confidence dissolved. “Uh, not that I don’t want to get better. Of course I do. I just…don’t want to think I’m ever going to be better at this than you. Wait, I mean -…”

“Aww, you’re sweet.” Cindy put her hand on Prompto’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. For a moment Prompto feared that his brain might fry in his skull with how hard he was blushing, but then Cindy gave him a firm pat on the back right where he’d felt the pop earlier and he was overwhelmed by sharp pain instead. He gritted his teeth and tried not to let on how much it hurt, but a strained whimper slipped out nonetheless.

“Oh!” Cindy cried as she yanked her hand back. “I’m sorry! Did that hurt?”

“Yes,” Prompto answered through his clenched jaw. He tried to roll his neck to release the tension, but he only ran up against more pain. “Not your fault.”

“Looks like I was right about you needing a break,” said Cindy. “If it’s that bad, I ain’t hearing no argument. You go have yourself a sit-down on that workbench right now.” She pointed across the room to a bench with an empty work table in front of it. With another pitiful sound, Prompto did as ordered, plunking himself down onto the bench and resting his arms on the table. He could hear Cindy follow along behind him and he opened his mouth to ask her how long he should sit for, but before a single word could leave him he felt her fingers on the base of his neck and her ungloved thumb pad gently pressing into his skin. “Wow,” she said, “you’ve got yourself some heavy-duty knots back here. No wonder it hurts.”

“Mm,” was all Prompto could manage in acknowledgement.

“This ain’t no way to get work done,” Cindy continued. “You spend the rest of your shift like this and you’ll be in deep trouble tomorrow. And don’t even think about going out on a hunt.” She felt around the back of Prompto’s neck some more. “I may be able to help, though.” Prompto, meanwhile, could only open and close his mouth silently like a fish, his eyes stuck wide open and everything from the base of his neck up threatening to catch fire. “Don’t you worry now.” Cindy took off her other glove and plopped both of them down on the bench beside Prompto. “I may do most of my maintenance work on cars, but I know my way around stiff muscles, too. You just relax.” Again before Prompto could manage to speak, her hands were on either side of his neck, thumbs feeling along the base of it for the knots there. When she found one she pressed both thumbs into the skin and rubbed around it, alternating the pressure and letting it loosen slowly. While that muscle unwound, the rest of Prompto’s body went stiff as cement. If he gave in at all, even just one tiny twitch, he might betray everything he’d been keeping in. “How’s that feel?” asked Cindy. “Better?”

“Guh,” was all Prompto could get out.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Nope!” he squeaked.

“Good to hear,” said Cindy. “Looks like there’s lots more where that one came from, so just sit tight.” That was _all_ he could do, thought Prompto as Cindy continued her massage. While her thumbs worked another kink out of his neck with expert skill, he thanked however many of the Six were still out there for the mental fortitude he’d managed to display so far.

Cindy made quick work of the knots in Prompto’s neck and moved down to his shoulders, which harbored even tougher ones. In between the close watches Prompto was keeping on what every inch of his body was doing at any given moment, he had to be impressed by Cindy’s expertise yet again. If he could eke out more than a single syllable at a time, he’d ask her where she picked it up. It was hardly something anyone would expect a mechanic to know, much less excel in. Still, he supposed, it could possibly come with the territory of someone who spent her life working with her hands. In an idle second he wondered what other magic she could work with them.

“Aaaahnnnnn.”

Prompto gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, praying Cindy hadn’t heard him make that sound. This time he wasn’t so lucky.

“You say something?” She didn’t stop massaging as she asked and Prompto had to summon up all of his inner strength to reply.

“Nope,” he said, hating the strain in his voice. “I…yawned. Just yawning. I’m kinda tired.”

“I thought so,” said Cindy. Prompto felt himself relax all at once, and not because of the massage. “I don’t blame you, neither. It’s later than I thought.”

“Kinda…hard to tell these days. Right?” Prompto attempted to smile even though he knew Cindy probably couldn’t see. It came out as more of a grimace.

“Oh,” Cindy answered. “That’s right. Sorry, Prompto. I don’t mean to hit a sore spot.”

“Really?” Prompto asked with the quickest wiggle of his shoulders. It was the best attempt he could make at a joke at the moment to steer the conversation a different way. The few seconds of silence that followed it felt like an eternity.

“What do you…Oh!” Cindy finally laughed and more relief washed over Prompto. “I get it. Clever. Well I think I’m almost done, so all of _these_ sore spots are about to be ancient history.” As if demonstrating that, she dug her thumbs in around an especially big knot, rubbing around and around until it relaxed. Before he could stop himself, Prompto let loose an open-mouthed groan.

“Oh Six!”

“Wow,” said Cindy, the hint of a giggle in her voice, “that one must’ve been extra nasty.” Wasting no time, she jumped right into the next one. Prompto’s mental faculties couldn’t keep up anymore. This time, instead of relief or embarrassment, a rush of _something else_ went through him.

“A-aaaaah,” he moaned, leaning into Cindy’s touch. “Lower.” He sighed blissfully when she obliged, feeling his eyes cross. Cindy was working out knots in his muscles that had probably been there since his childhood and feeling them finally release was one of the best sensations Prompto had ever experienced. All his hyper-awareness was gone and more noises were slipping out. Every exhale had his voice behind it as he slid forward in his seat and flopped onto the table, stretching his arms out across it.

“Is this your first massage?” asked Cindy, her hands sinking toward Prompto’s waist as she followed the remaining trail of tense spots. “Feels like it is.”

“Mmmm-hmm,” Prompto hummed, feeling his hands twitch in and out of fists. Was he smiling like an idiot? He wasn’t sure, but it did feel that way. His eyes had drooped closed some moments before and every ounce of his attention was on the wonderful feeling of Cindy’s handiwork. Resting his head on his upper arm, he bent into her touch some more just as she finally reached the waist of his pants.

“Alright,” said Cindy, giving his lower back a gentle pat before she took her hands away. “Pretty sure I got ‘em all. You’re good to go, but you should still get some rest.” Prompto let out one last airy sigh, letting his eyes flutter open. Yes, he was most definitely smiling like an idiot and still blushing on top of that.

“That’s it?” he asked, his words slurred.

“Yep!” said Cindy, grabbing her gloves from the bench. “And don’t you let the tension get that bad again, you hear? That ain’t healthy. You be glad you didn’t end up seizing in the middle of a hunt.”

“Mmph.” Prompto grunted as he tried to move, only vaguely aware of what Cindy was saying. As he rolled his back into an upright position, he could feel the lack of tension like he’d just lost twenty pounds all at once. Stretching his arms out like a cat, he gave his shoulders a shake and grinned at the pleasant shiver it sent through his body. “Oh, thank you.”

“Hey,” said Cindy, “it ain’t no problem for me.” There was a pause as Prompto rolled his neck, reveling in the lack of pain, but when Cindy spoke again, her voice was much quieter. “And, uh…I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t even think.”

“Huh?” Prompto turned his head toward her as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“About the time of day?” said Cindy. She was looking away from him at the floor, her arms drawn in close. “That ain’t just a harmless thing to talk about anymore. You’d think I’d know that by now.”

“Hey,” Prompto began, turning sideways on the bench to face her more completely, “It’s really not…uh…” He cut himself off as a sensation below his waistband stole his attention. Bright color returned to his face as his wide eyes chanced a look down at himself. His worst fear was confirmed when his gaze reached his lap. It wasn’t terribly obvious in the dimly-lit corner, but sitting right between his legs was the throbbing erection he really, _really_ wished he didn’t have right now.

“I’ll watch my words better from now on,” said Cindy, clearly not at all wise to the situation.

“Uh, yeah. Great.” Prompto tried to subtly move his hands and arms to block any view she might get of his crotch, but he’d started to shake. “It’s really okay, though. Really.” He shifted in place, trying to swing his leg back over the bench and turn away from Cindy again, but the motion dragged the fabric of his pants against him in a way that made his length twitch and his breath caught in his throat.

“Well, if you say so.” Cindy stepped closer and Prompto tried his best not to think about how her hips swayed when she walked or how well her jacket framed her chest or anything else that would add to his serious problem. She stood over him for a moment and then rested her hand on his shoulder. Prompto swore he could feel his heartbeat in his cheeks. “So, you feel like heading back to work or do you need some more time?”

“More time!” Prompto practically barked, scooting his arms closer in to disguise the bulge in his pants. He didn’t dare look at Cindy. If their eyes met, nothing would be a secret anymore and his life would be over effective immediately. “Just a little…bit more time.” His wrists were bumping against his fly, which felt far better than it should have, but he didn’t want to risk taking them away. Still, he could _definitely_ feel his pulse down there. He squirmed a little under Cindy’s touch, rubbing up against one forearm by accident and feeling a jolt of need that made him suck in his next breath harshly.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Cindy, her hand sliding further down his back. Forget thanking the Six earlier, thought Prompto. He was on the verge of cursing each and every one of them individually for the plight he now had to face. “I don’t think I missed any spots, but you’re feeling just as tense as when I started. Here, let me see if I can find the problem.” Cindy took her hand away and started to remove her glove again, but before she could lay another finger on him, Prompto practically levitated off the workbench and made a break for it.

“Ineedabathroombreakrightnow _bye!_ ” He was across the garage in a flash, making a beeline for the nearest bathroom. Perhaps the Six still did deserve his thanks, he thought, but only for his good fortune in deciding to wear his loose-fitting casual pants to work.

* * *

Prompto had only been in the little garage bathroom for about five minutes, but every second of it felt like weeks. He sat on the lid of the single toilet, fly open and underwear pushed out of the way to free his unbidden boner and give it the chance to fade on its own so he could go back outside again. So far there was no sign that it was going anywhere. Just as soon as Prompto felt the feeling fading, some thought or another would cross his mind that would renew his erection’s strength with a visible jump and he’d be back to square one. He made a noise that was almost a growl through his teeth and flopped backward against the tank and the tile behind him. What could he do in here that would make this go away? Other than the thing his body was practically screaming at him to do. If he gave in, he would just make a mess all over himself that there was no explaining away.

What would happen if he ran cold water on it from the sink? It was worth a shot by now, he thought. It certainly worked in the shower when he used up all the hot water getting carried away. Very carefully he stood, awkwardly making his way to the basin a few feet from the toilet with his pants around his hips. The sink basin was set relatively low, but it was too wide around for him to reach the faucet. Feeling his desperation building, Prompto turned on the cold water, cupped his hand under the faucet and splashed some of it on his bobbing erection. It stung for a half second and then nothing, as if it had never been there. He’d really only succeeded in getting the waistband of his underwear wet, which he’d hoped to avoid.

Now what was he going to do? Prompto backed a step away from the sink, turned on the water again and this time splashed a handful of it in his face instead. He had to get a grip on his mind. He caught his reflection in the mirror over the sink as he looked up and noticed the grease spot beside his eye. Reaching to the side for a paper towel, he patted his face dry and wiped at the smudge. As he cleaned the dirt off his face, something occurred to him. It was stupid, he thought, but under the current circumstances, what choice did he have? Scrubbing his face clean the rest of the way and tossing out the paper towel, he took another and dried himself off as best he could. The paper scratched harshly against his sensitive skin, so he stuck to patting it dry. There would be no fully avoiding the clamminess the water had left behind, he thought, but there was no helping that now. He didn’t sit down or move at all from the basin. If he did what he intended to do, the mess he’d be making would practically be cleaned up for him.

From the second his thumb touched the head of his erection, Prompto’s breathing picked up and his eyes slid closed. He moved his fingers slowly from the tip down, restraining his louder noises as his huffing breaths echoed in the tiny tiled room, and wrapped his hand around himself. It was quite the struggle not to whimper as he started to rub that thumb around and around the head, but somehow Prompto managed to keep it in while he got himself into a rhythm that moved things along. He could feel the blush on his skin again as far down as his shoulders and soon enough he felt his abs tense up. Another moan bubbled up inside his chest, but he let it out as a sigh instead, flinching at how it was amplified by the bathroom’s echo.

It was almost enough, but he wasn’t quite _there_ yet. Prompto gave the head of his erection one more pass with the pad of his thumb and slowed his movements. He needed to be less aware of where he was. He needed something else for his mind to get lost in if he was getting out of here any time soon. Once his eyes were closed again he thought back to what had landed him here in the first place. The memory of how good Cindy’s hands had felt on him as they worked out every inch of tension in his shoulders and back was still strong. Prompto felt his back arch again at just the thought of it and rubbed at the head once more. Yes, that was it. He remembered his idle thought from before, wondering how good it would feel if Cindy let her hands roam to other places on his body. He suppressed another moan as his hips jerked forward into his hand. Oh, that only felt _better._ Prompto followed the fantasy where it took him, his echoing breaths growing somewhat in volume as he felt himself getting closer at long last.

It wouldn’t just be Cindy touching _him,_ he imagined. There had to be ways that she liked to be touched. Kisses down her neck, maybe, or little nibbles just above her collar bones. Prompto licked his lips at the image in his mind, how he imagined her skin would feel under his attention. He would run his hands all along her midriff, skirting the edges of her jacket and her shorts until she gave him some signal to go further. When he’d push past her jacket to reach those beautiful, soft breasts of hers, kissing her neck all the while, he imagined she’d sigh or moan as she leaned back against his chest and reach behind his head to run her fingers through his hair. Prompto felt his hips buck into his hand a couple more times in quick succession. He picked up the pace with his hand, stroking furiously, and his mouth dropped open as he ran the pad of his thumb through the bead of precum gathering at the tip to smooth things out.

Oh, he thought, what might Cindy do if she let him reach below the waist of her delightfully short shorts? He couldn’t help but let slip a sound at that image, a desperate whine that was thankfully quiet enough not to ring against the tiles. If she let him do that, he reckoned he’d give her exactly the same experience he was having right now. He’d only tease her a little, getting a feel for how she’d want it and maybe making her giggle with anticipation as he gave that perfect ass of hers some much-needed attention. How Prompto would love to have that honor. The privilege of being allowed to bring her perfect release. To find every tiny thing to make her come apart in his hands and lose herself in the bliss he was now chasing. He imagined all the sounds she’d make once he’d found her sweet spot, barely holding back a few of his own as he did. Maybe, he dared think, she would moan his name as he brought her to her peak. By now he was leaning forward more, his other hand gripping the edge of the sink basin as his hips jerked sharply into his tight fist almost on their own.

If Cindy ever did learn of his feelings for her and accepted them, Prompto would consider it his duty to repay every kindness she’d ever shown him like that. How she’d put up with him in the earliest days while he still couldn’t string two words together in front of her without help from Noctis. How she’d let him demonstrate his skills with modifying machinery for her even on a busy day with a customer or two at the garage. How eventually she’d accepted his offer to help her in the garage when more and more hunters started to set up shop there and the periods of daylight waned. Prompto would relish the act of thanking Cindy over and over again for the rest of his life if she allowed it. She was a gift from the Astrals. His queen. His _goddess._

“Aa-aaaaaah… _yes._ ” Prompto could feel his own release coming now. His hips and hand were pounding into each other at high speed, pushing the head of him in and out of the tight opening he’d made between his thumb and forefinger. Just another second. Now another. Now just one more. His jaw was hanging open again, but he’d gone virtually silent, his voice caught in the middle of his throat as pleasure began to overwhelm him. As he tensed up for the last time he clamped his mouth shut to keep quiet, but he groaned through his teeth anyway when his climax hit. It was intense how he came, all the rest of his senses whiting out as the sharp, awesome spasms of release held his full focus.

His breathing slowed and quieted and his jaw unclenched as awareness began to drizzle back into him. Prompto opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the sink basin and how he’d actually managed to spill himself into it pretty neatly, save for a few splashes at the back that could easily be wiped away. The second thing he saw was his own reflection in the mirror, flushed and spent, and all at once the reality of where he was and what he’d just done in there came crashing down around him. What in the name of each and every god had possessed him that he thought it was even remotely a good idea to whack off into the _sink?_ The sink in the bathroom at _Hammerhead!_ Yes, his little problem was solved, but this whole situation was completely ridiculous! Prompto’s eyes wavered from the mirror and he ran his other hand down his face, his thoughts a swirling blur.

A sudden knock at the door shook Prompto so badly that he screamed out loud. “What happened?! Uh, I mean, who’s there?”

“You okay in there?” It was Cindy. _Of course_ it was Cindy. This time Prompto felt the color drain from his face instead of rushing to it. “You been in there a long time.”

“Uh, have I?” Despite being alone in the bathroom, Prompto shifted his eyes and worried at the collar of his shirt. “I, uh…I…” As he scoured his brain for a plausible explanation, a loud yawn interrupted him. The strength of it was enough to knock him off-kilter for a second, but when he shook it off he had his answer for Cindy. “I fell asleep.”

“Wow.” She had laughter in her voice. “Sounds like you need some time to relax. How ‘bout you leave the rest of the inspection to me and catch a few winks? I bet you could use ‘em.”

“Oh no, no,” Prompto stammered, lifting his unused hand toward the door. “I can’t just dump all that work on you. How’s that fair?”

“Nah,” said Cindy, “It ain’t no problem. That busted cylinder was probably the worst of it. I can swap out a cylinder with one hand tied behind my back. You take care of yourself.” She laughed again and the sound still sent pleasant shivers down Prompto’s spine in spite of his current state. “Listen to me. I’m turning into Paw-paw!”

“Okay, fine,” sighed Prompto, only half-feigning the sound of defeat in his voice. Very real fatigue was pulling at his mind and body and he knew he couldn’t get any work done like that. “Catch you first thing tomorrow?”

“It’s a done deal,” said Cindy. “Sweet dreams.” Prompto had to chuckle weakly at that one, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. Once he was fairly confident that Cindy wasn’t standing outside the door anymore he started cleaning up after himself, leaving no trace of his release behind in the sink. At long last he zipped his fly back up with determination and stepped out of the bathroom into the wide open garage. From there he wasted no time in heading to the back of what had once been Takka’s Diner and took the coldest shower he could tolerate before heading off to bed.

* * *

Prompto walked into the garage after his sparse breakfast looking sheepish, his eyes roving around the room until they rested on Cindy. She’d already spotted him and was hurrying over, an expression on her face that struck Prompto as concerned. He stopped in his tracks and puzzled at it, scratching the back of his head.

“Is something wrong?” Prompto asked. “Nobody in the diner said anything had happened.”

“Huh?” Cindy had been looking down while Prompto was talking, but she lifted her head back up to answer. “Oh, no. I just wanna be sure about something.”

Prompto’s eyes flicked to each side. “What is it?”

“Did I upset you yesterday?” asked Cindy. “Be honest with me, now.” Prompto took far longer than he probably should have to remember why she would even be asking him that. When he did, another faint blush rose on his face as he thought back to it.

“Oh, that? Nah.” He waved his hand in what he thought was a casually dismissive gesture, but his movements were almost mechanical. “Most of the hunters still talk like that, too. Honestly, I don’t pay much attention.”

“I’m glad,” said Cindy, her shoulders visibly sinking and her body falling back into her natural bounce. “That’s the last thing I want.” She sighed, crossing her arms and looking off to one side. “I miss him, too, you know. The prince. Sometimes when all y’all are in Lestallum I step outside and think I might see y’all pull up in the Regalia again, just like old times.” She huffed out a weak laugh and looked down, idly grinding the toe of her boot into the garage floor. “If only.”

“Yeah,” Prompto sighed, blinking his eyes hard a few times. “He’ll be back, though. That’s what the old legends say.” There was probably something else he should say or do, he reasoned, but it just wasn’t coming to him. Before he could think on it any further, though, Cindy closed the distance between them and gave him a hug, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Aw, Prompto,” she said, her voice muffled, “bless your heart. You got so much hope, it rubs off on everybody else. I’m glad you’re here helping out.” Prompto was stunned for a few seconds, but he gently put his arms around Cindy in turn. Little sparks were going off in his mind, telling him to sneak a feel here or there, but he resisted all of them and kept his hands still as stone against Cindy’s back where her jacket covered her.

“R-really?” he stammered. “You mean it?”

“Course I do,” said Cindy, her voice cheerful again. She gave him one last squeeze and started to pull back, Prompto dropping his arms like sandbags to let her go. “Glad that’s all figured out. I’ve just got one more question.”

“Shoot,” said Prompto, still a little dazed.

“Why were you acting so jumpy?”

“Uh…” Prompto felt every joint in his body lock up.

“I thought for sure I’d upset you,” said Cindy. “If that ain’t it, what was?”

“Um, well,” Prompto began, looking up and away as he rubbed at the back of his neck again, “you see, I…uh…” He blushed harder the more he tried to find his words, every single one of them deciding that now was the perfect time to abandon him.

Cindy leaned in toward him, hushing her voice. “Was it all that noise you were making from the massage?”

“Ah! I…” This was it, thought Prompto. He was going to spontaneously combust right here in the middle of the garage. Even if he didn’t go up in flames, his life was over anyway. There was no salvaging this situation. He could only watch Cindy for a reaction as he still struggled to speak. She had a strange smile on her face that slowly spread out until she was laughing, bending over to slap her knee. Prompto was frozen in place. What could possibly happen next?

“Aw,” she cooed, “that really was your first massage. _Everybody_ does that when they get one. I don’t know a soul who hasn’t.”

“Uh, really?” Prompto felt himself start to unbind and he stood up straighter.

“Really,” said Cindy, still snickering a little. “It ain’t nothing to be ashamed of. ‘Specially not in front of me.” She started forward, giving Prompto a pat on the back that lingered for a moment and made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “I know you didn’t mean nothing by it.” She kept walking, leaving Prompto standing as still in the middle of the floor as if he’d just been petrified. “There ain’t much work left to do,” she shouted over her shoulder, “but I could use a hand with cleaning up some of these rigs. Whatever daemons’ve got instead of blood don’t come off easy.”

“S-sure,” Prompto replied in as loud and steady a voice as he could. He may have survived that ordeal, but he felt ready to fall apart where he stood. Right now he would have preferred bursting into flames. Finally able to move again, he rested his hand over his face and sighed through his teeth. Any progress he had made in the last few years toward telling Cindy everything had just been wiped out. Thankful that no one else had been around to see that, Prompto gave his head a quick shake and followed after Cindy. Maybe once he was done helping her he could join a hunt, work off this frustration and have a drink with the hunters afterward to put him in a better mood. As happy as he was that some things in his world had stayed the same, perhaps where he stood with Cindy wasn’t one of them after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Like my other works so far, this story is also available on my writing Tumblr, "miss-slothrop-writes". Many thanks to ShyBunny for helping me edit this and work out all the kinks. So to speak.


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